FIRST AID 
for PERSONS 
OVERCOME 
BY GAS 



SIXTH EDITION 
























FIRST AID 

for PERSONS OVERCOME 
BY GAS 


ooo 

SIXTH EDITION 

090 


Copyright 1905-1910-1914 1915-1921-1924 
THE UNITED GAS IMPROVEMENT COMPANY 
Philadelphia 



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FEB 23 1924 


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TREATMENT FOR THOSE 
OVERCOME BY GAS 


When persons are affected by illuminating gas, 
they are in one of three classes: 

CLASS I. Those slightly affected. 

CLASS II. Those seriously affected, but 
still breathing. 

CLASS III. Those apparently dead, — not 
breathing. 

To properly treat these three classes, it is im¬ 
portant to have on hand the following materials, 
contained in the Company’s Emergency Gas Kit, 
as shown in Figure No. 1 : 

(a) Effervescing phosphate of soda. 

(b) Aromatic spirit of ammonia. 

(c) Vaporole aromatic ammonia. 

(d) A drinking cup. 

(e) A pair of tongue-pliers. 

(f) A jaw-block. 




CLASS I 


(those slightly affected) 

Symptoms. —Headache, dizziness, nausea or 
vomiting, and great drowsiness, with relaxation 
of muscles, hurried breathing and rapid heart 
action. This condition is illustrated in Figure 
No. 2. 

Treatment.— Carry patient immediately into 
fresh air, preferably into a comfortably warm 
room, where there is a free circulation of air, and 
loosen his collar and neckband. Keep patient well 
covered to guard against a lowering of body tem¬ 
perature. Give him a dose of effervescing phos¬ 
phate of soda in a glass of water, following in 
five minutes with half a teaspoonful of aromatic 
spirit of ammonia in a third of a glass of water. 
This latter dose may be repeated at intervals of 
fifteen minutes to a limit of four doses. 

Effervescing phosphate of soda is given to over¬ 
come nausea, and to act on the patient’s bowels. 
However, if it is not obtainable, plain soda water 
will do. 

Aromatic spirit of ammonia is given as a stim¬ 
ulant to the heart, which is weakened by the effects 
of gas. 


4 


CLASS II 


(those seriously affected, but still 
breathing) 

Symptoms. — Semiconsciousness or uncon¬ 
sciousness ; patient is very weak and his breathing 
is rapid and shallow. 

Treatment. —Send for a doctor at once. 
Carry the patient immediately into fresh air, as 
stated in instructions pertaining to Class I cases. 
In this class of case he is too weak to stand and 
is unable to swallow. Place him on his back on 
a flat surface, with a coat rolled (not folded) 
under the shoulders, in such a way as to allow 
the head to fall backward far enough to straighten 
the windpipe, as shown in Figure No. 3; at the 
same time loosen the shirt at the neck, loosen* the 
trousers and drawers at waist, loosen garters, 
loosen or preferably remove shoes, and release any 
compression that might restrict a free circulation 
of blood through the arteries and veins or impede 
respiration, and have assistants rub his legs and 
arms. The sleeves and trouser legs should be 
loosely rolled up as far as possible, as shown in 
Figure No. 3, so that the rubbing may be done 
on the bare skin and from the extremities toward 
the body. Friction thus applied is a stimulus to 
blood circulation; during the rubbing process the 
flesh also should be gently kneaded. 


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If the patient is unconscious, open his mouth, 
forcing the jaw if necessary. 

Note. —If the jaw is rigid, force it open by placing the 
forefingers back of the bend of the lower jawbone and 
the thumbs of both hands on the chin, pulling forward 
with the fingers and pressing jaw open with thumbs, as 
shown in Figure No. 4. 

Place the jaw-block, or something similar, be¬ 
tween the teeth to keep the jaws open and to 
prevent the patient from biting his tongue, using 
an object large enough to obviate any danger of 
his swallowing it accidentally, and grasp his 
tongue and pull it forward with the tongue pliers, 
as shown in Figure No. 5, to open the air passage¬ 
way to the lungs. 

Then clear froth, etc., from the mouth by put¬ 
ting in your forefinger as far as possible and 
bringing up the froth with a scooping motion. 
Have the assistant who is holding the tongue, 
crush a capsule of vaporole aromatic ammonia and 
slowly pass it under the patient’s nose about once 
a minute as the patient breathes in, as shown in 
Figure No. 6. 

Help the patient to breathe by pressing the base 
of his .r.ibs together every other time he breathes 
out, as shown in Figure No. 6. Do not press 
vertically, but press on the patient’s sides (palms 
of hands over lower ribs), thereby forcing as 
much air as possible out of the lungs. You will 
carry out this pressing action most successfully 
if, on beginning, you rest your hands lightly over 


6 


the patient’s ribs and let them move inward and 
outward in unison with the patient’s breathing, 
and then begin to press hard with every other 
outgoing breath. 

Note.— The object of doing this is to strengthen breath¬ 
ing. By making the pressure every other time the patient 
breathes out, you give him an opportunity to take a 
breath himself. This natural effort to breathe is in itself 
strengthening to the action of the lungs. 

Continue this pressing action until the patient is 
conscious and breathing well by himself. 

The rubbing of the arms and legs, the holding 
of the tongue and the passing of the ammonia 
under the nose, all shown in Figure No. 6, should 
be continued as long as the patient is unconscious. 
After the patient is conscious, give him half a 
teaspoonful of aromatic spirit of ammonia in a 
third of a glass of water, as shown in Figure No. 7. 
Then shift the coat or pillow from under his 
shoulders to under his head, and surround him 
with bottles of hot water, as shown in Figure 
No. 8. 

Note. —Empty bottles are easily obtained and should 
be filled with hot water and covered with paper or cloth 
to avoid burning. Hot bricks, also covered, or gas bags 
filled with hot water, may be used. 

Then cover the patient with a blanket or coats, 
as shown in Figure No. 7, and watch him, as a 
relapse may follow, in which event the resusci¬ 
tation treatment should be repeated. 


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CLASS III 


(those apparently dead) 

Treatment.— Send for a doctor at once, in the 
meantime acting as follows: Carry the patient im¬ 
mediately into fresh air, as directed in Class 
I. Open his shirt wide at the neck, loosen his 
trousers and drawers at waist, and loosely roll 
up trouser legs and shirt sleeves so that the assist¬ 
ants can rub the patient’s bare legs and arms. Open 
his mouth, forcing the jaw if necessary, as shown 
in Figure No. 4, and insert a jaw-block. Grasp 
the tongue and pull it forward with the tongue- 
pliers, having an assistant hold it out, as shown 
in Figure No. 5. This is necessary on ac¬ 
count of the tendency of the tongue to swell in 
cases of gas poisoning. If without tongue-pliers, 
grasp the tongue between the index and second 
fingers after they have been covered with a towel 
or handkerchief. Clear froth, etc., from the 
mouth by putting in your forefinger as far as pos¬ 
sible and bringing it up with a scooping motion. 
Then.place the patient flat on his stomach, the 
head turned to one side and resting on the hand 
or forearm, and the other arm extended at right 
angle to the body, so that breathing through both 
the mouth and nose will not be interfered with, 
as shown in Figure No. 9. 


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ARTIFICIAL RESPIRATION 


After the patient has been prepared as directed, 
kneel across his back and place your hands over 
his ribs in such a way that the thumbs, when ex¬ 
tended, will be about six inches below his armpits 
and the “heel” of the hands about two inches 
from the spine. Then swing your body forward 
so as to allow your weight to fall vertically on 
your wrists, in this way compressing the body 
and forcing the air from the lungs, as shown in 
Figure No. 10. Then swing backward to an up¬ 
right position, releasing this pressure, as shown in 
Figure 11. This permits the chest to expand and 
the lungs to refill with air. Repeat this swinging 
motion slowly about 12 times per minute, exert¬ 
ing no more force than is necessary to cause a 
deep expiration, which can be determined by the 
sound made by the air escaping from the patient’s 
nose or mouth. (Be careful not to overdo in this 
motion. If the pressure is violent, there is dan¬ 
ger of internally injuring the patient.) Have the 
assistant holding the tongue slowly pass the vapo- 
role ammonia under the patient’s nose as the pres¬ 
sure over the ribs is released, as shown in Figure 
No. 11, and air is drawn into the lungs. 

When the patient has begun to breathe by him¬ 
self, place him on his back and press his sides 
every other time he breathes out, as described in 
Class II and shown in Figure No. 6. This should 
be continued until he breathes naturally. 


9 


The rubbing and kneading of the legs and arms 
should continue as long as the artificial breathing 
or pressing action is necessary, as should also the 
holding of the tongue and the passing of the am¬ 
monia under the nose as long as the patient is 
unconscious, as shown in Figures No. 6 and 
No. 11. 

After the patient becomes conscious, give him 
half a teaspoonful of aromatic spirit of ammonia 
in a third of a glass of water, as shown in Figure 
No. 7, and surround with bottles of hot water, 
as shown in Figure No. 8. 

Note. —Empty bottles are easily obtained, and should 
be filled with hot water and covered with paper or cloth, 
to avoid burning. Hot bricks, also covered, or gas bags 
filled with hot water, may be used. 

Then cover the patient with a blanket or coats, 
as indicated in Figure No. 7, and watch him. 
In the event of a relapse, repeat the treatment. 

In applying artificial respiration, if the pa¬ 
tient shows no signs of corning to life promptly, 
do not be discouraged, but continue the motions 
regularly for several hours, summoning such help 
as may be needed. Cases are known wherein 
patients showing no signs of life nor response to 
treatment after an hour’s work have recovered, 
and the recoveries were due to the persistence of 
those in charge. 


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Persons affected by gas must have fresh 
air. Therefore, bystanders should not be per¬ 
mitted to crowd around the patient, and no one 
should be allowed to approach him except those 
carrying out these instructions. 

Should the articles mentioned on page 3 not 
be on hand when needed, every effort should be 
made to revive the patient by following the course 
of movements described until the doctor arrives 
and the necessary articles are secured. 


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12 


Figure No. 1 , See Page 







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14 





15 


Figure No. 4, See Pages 





16 


Figure No. 5, See Pages 







17 


Figure No. 6, See Pages 













18 


Figure No. 7, See Pages 





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20 


Figure No. 9, See Page 




















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Figure No. 10, See Page 









Figure No. 11, See Pages 














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